The Kansas City Chiefs 2011 schedule will be officially released at 6:00 p.m. (Arrowhead time) this evening but we're impatient NFL fans and want to know as much as we can about the schedule right now.
Every year, there are a few teams' schedules leaked to the media before it's officially released.
This isn't officially official yet but Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News has reported on a few leaks to the New York Jets schedule. The Chiefs and Jets will play each other at some point this season so this affects the Chiefs a little bit.
Per Mehta, the Jets start the season against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football in Week 1 followed by the Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots and will end the season against the Miami Dolphins. They will also have a bye in Week 8 and will play the Denver Broncos on Thanksgiving night. Mehta issued a correction -- the Jets are NOT playing the Broncos on Thanksgiving, so that's still in play.
Unfortunately, those are all the leaks that have been reported.
So if this report is accurate then we can learn a few things about the Chiefs schedule that, more than likely, you don't care about:
-They will not play the Jets in Week 1 through Week 5.
-They will not play the Jets in Week 8
-They will not be playing in the Thanksgiving night game
-They will not play the Jets in Week 17
-They will not play the Raiders in Week 3
-They will not play the Patriots in Week 5
So that only leaves about a billion other possibilities on the Chiefs schedule. Good luck figuring them out.
Update: And a few more schedule leaks, per Mike Garafolo of the Star-Ledger:
-The Giants and Jets will play on Christmas Eve, which means the Chiefs likely won't be playing then.
-The Giants will play the Packers on December 4 in New York, which means the Chiefs won't be playing the Jets or Packers on that day.
Update: ESPN Radio in Chicago reports the Bears will play the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1. So that means, if the reports are accurate, the Chiefs Week 1 opponent won't be the Jets or Bears. Only 11 more possibilities!
Update: FOX Sports Detroit says the Lions will play the Bears on Monday Night Football Oct. 10. The Chiefs play both those teams.